With school having started around the country, the Department of Labor has released new guidelines about qualifying for paid sick leave related to the reopening of schools through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The new DOL guidelines explain eligibility for paid leave relative to the multiple ways schools have been choosing to operate this fall. With the challenges parents are facing with school and COVID-19, the DOL wanted to help ease the burden parents will face by balancing their own work and their children’s schooling.
When the school year was approaching, there were still serious outstanding questions on how the Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL) and Emergency Family Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA) in the FFCRA would apply to families with varying circumstances of schooling available for their children. The DOL FAQs 98-100 clarify how these programs will be able to be used by parents, depending on how schooling is available for their children.
Please see the following FAQs and others related to the FFCRA at the DOL website here.
- 98 – My child’s school is operating on an alternate day (or other hybrid-attendance) basis. The school is open each day, but students alternate between days attending school in person and days participating in remote learning. They are permitted to attend school only on their allotted in-person attendance days. May I take paid leave under the FFCRA in these circumstances?
- Yes, you are eligible to take paid leave under the FFCRA on days when your child is not permitted to attend school in person and must instead engage in remote learning, as long as you need the leave to actually care for your child during that time and only if no other suitable person is available to do so. For purposes of the FFCRA and its implementing regulations, the school is effectively “closed” to your child on days that he or she cannot attend in person. You may take paid leave under the FFCRA on each of your child’s remote-learning days.
- 99 – My child’s school is giving me a choice between having my child attend in person or participate in a remote learning program for the fall. I signed up for the remote learning alternative because, for example, I worry that my child might contract COVID-19 and bring it home to the family. Since my child will be at home, may I take paid leave under the FFCRA in these circumstances?
- No, you are not eligible to take paid leave under the FFCRA because your child’s school is not “closed” due to COVID–19 related reasons; it is open for your child to attend. FFCRA leave is not available to take care of a child whose school is open for in-person attendance. If your child is home not because his or her school is closed, but because you have chosen for the child to remain home, you are not entitled to FFCRA paid leave. However, if, because of COVID-19, your child is under a quarantine order or has been advised by a health care provider to self-isolate or self-quarantine, you may be eligible to take paid leave to care for him or her. See FAQ 63.
- Also, as explained more fully in FAQ 98, if your child’s school is operating on an alternate day (or other hybrid-attendance) basis, you may be eligible to take paid leave under the FFCRA on each of your child’s remote-learning days because the school is effectively “closed” to your child on those days.
- 100 – My child’s school is beginning the school year under a remote learning program out of concern for COVID-19, but has announced it will continue to evaluate local circumstances and make a decision about reopening for in-person attendance later in the school year. May I take paid leave under the FFCRA in these circumstances?
If you have any additional questions on if you qualify for paid sick leave under the FFCRA, please contact our office.
